14 - Chapter 14

Burris looked up helplessly: “My lord, what do you want to ask me?”

Roth said with a smile: “I asked just now –Have you ever been in love?”

“I…Yes, I have. Of course I have.”

“Who was that person?”

“Er, I can’t remember their name. That was when I was very young…”

Roth asked: “How old were you at that time? Did you know me? Where did you meet each other? Was the other person male or female? Was it a mage or someone else? How old was the other person? Why did you break up?”

Burris pressed his forehead in despair. “My lord, do you talk to people in this way for seven days every hundred years?”

“No, I rarely talk to people. Answer quickly. If you can’t tell the details, it means you may be lying. If the details are too strict, you may be lying.”

“Well” Said the mage, lowering his head and discovering that Count Hrolf was squirming towards his feet, which gave him a reasonable chance to not look up. “I really haven’t been in love, all right? It’s not something shameful.

Roth looked like he was chasing after victory. “Since it’s not a shameful thing, why did you lie to me? I won’t laugh at you. You didn’t fall in love even when you were eighty-four years old. That is not surprising, many infernal creatures have lived for thousands of years without falling in love… ”

“Have you seen infernal creatures?” Burris decided to imitate the Skeleton King method of conversation to change the subject.

Roth said: “I have seen them a long time ago, of course not recently. The time when hell and the world were connected was too long ago. Burris, are there no women in your tower? Except for Her Highness.”

“Yes.” Burris cried out inwardly, it seemed that he had failed to change the subject.

“Didn’t you like any of them? Or did they look down on you? It shouldn’t be, I think you look good. Your face is pretty, but your disadvantage is that your eyebrows are a little sparse, and the shape of your lips is also average, a bit sharp….But fortunately, your eyes are beautiful and clear…”

The outsider Skeleton King reached out to hold Burris’s chin, and Burris awkwardly turned his head to avoid him. “It was not for those reasons. My lord, do you want anything else? Seriously, I have a lot of things to deal with, we can continue our conversation later…”

“Don’t be shy.” Roth laughed. “I haven’t been in love, and I haven’t talked about it either. What is the big deal? You see, I don’t care at all.”

Burris kept smiling, and inwardly complained: Of course you haven’t talked about it. You can only come out for seven days every 100 years. The rest of your time was spent in the Marsh of the Dead with a group of undead creatures in another plane. Who would you talk to?”

“Let me ask you another question.” Roth’s curiosity was endless. “Are you not interested in anyone? Or have you secretly fallen in love with someone but never said it? There is a big difference between the two.”

Burris got up and took a purse from the cabinet next to him. “Would you like to go to the fair of the end of the month in Sandari Town? That fair is held on the last three days of each month, and today is just the first day. There is special food from southern countries, elven clothing on sale, seasonal fruits and snacks, touring circus and singing and dancing performances. It’s very interesting. How about going over there for fun? Take this money with you.”

“Do you think I’m getting in the way?” Roth reached out and took the purse.

“No, I like to talk to you.” Burris said. “But I like to keep working hours and breaks as separate as possible. This is my working time. It’s not about you. I’m the same to anyone.”

“You are so rich, why pursue self-discipline…” Roth murmured, holding up his purse, and judging from his shining eyes, his heart had already flown to the Sandari Town fair. “How do I get to Sandari Town from here? First, I go into the Sago border, then a little bit west of Flying Squirrel Town, and then I’ll go a little further across the river, right?”

“Yes.” Burris sent him out of his study. “But don’t ride there. It’s a little far away, it would be too tiring. Go to Mr. Willis, he will take you to the fixed teletransportation array under the tower. I have a short-range teleportation array that leads to Sandari Town. It is located in a magic medicinal store in the town. You can go out directly after you arrive, the owner won’t ask you anything.”

Roth murmured: “It doesn’t look like you’re going with me…”

Burris returned to the study: “I want to work. If you prefer that we travel together, you can look forward to it in a few days. Soon we will go to the royal capital of Sago. It’s very prosperous and fun there.”

Mr. Willis, the golem, walked out of the corner of the corridor. Roth waved to Burris, followed the golem on the floating disc and descended from the tower happily.

Burris sighed and shook his head, unable to tell what it felt like. Before he found the entrance to the Marsh of the Dead, he had been preparing psychologically for decades. He kept telling himself: The Skeleton King is no better than a mortal. Even if the ‘Mage Burris’ is well-known in the world and has a successful career, he must also respect the king, and even worship him in order to win his trust and happiness…

He was ready to serve a monarch, but now he seemed to be doting on a child who was ignorant and had an empty spiritual world…and also the child’s little animals.

Burris sat back at the table. Count Hrolf was sleeping soundly under his chair with his belly up. The mage reminded himself: Actually, the Skeleton King is not too bad. Although his words and actions are childish, he is addicted to gossip, loves to spend money and he is aesthetically worrying…He is still very helpful in research, and many of his traits are amazing.

Burris opened his notes, and the last few pages were all about the test records of the Skeleton King.

Every day, he asked Roth to take part in very short tests that took him no longer than a few minutes, because Burris didn’t want to bore the Skeleton King, let alone make him feel like an experiment.

The Skeleton King was immune to all divine magic, and also immune to most arcane spells. According to records, divine magic originated from ancient gods. Before the separation of the planes took place, they left some power in human bloodlines. These bloodlines were like a spider’s thread that connects the world and itself; ordinary people couldn’t see or touch them. Only a few devout people could be touched by the divine blood through their prayers in many years. In short, human magic comes from these bloodlines, and their power is not as strong as the real divine power of ancient gods. The Skeleton King’s magic immunity was well understood. After all, he was a demigod, and he came from the gods, so of course magic was completely ineffective against him.

His immunity to Arcane magic was much more complicated. He was completely immune to instant harmful spells, but not necessarily to those with physical consequences. He could face magical bolts unharmed, but if magic turned the land under his feet into a swamp, he will also fall into the mud. In terms of single spells, he was immune to all curses and death magic, while protection and healings spells could work well on him. In force field spells, he could directly pass through the barriers and destroy arcane seals with his bare hands, but he could step on the floating disc in the tower to move…You know, the principle of the floating disc is no different from a magic prison. Besides, he could see through deceptive illusions and enjoy magic songs and dances. He could use the teleportation circle without being bound by runes that interrupt the teleportation…

This was not the most exaggerated… What was more surprising is that the Skeleton King was also resistant to ordinary physical attacks. He wasn’t afraid of fire, he could breath under water, and poison couldn’t infect him…Once, He had accidentally cut himself with a newly purchased sword, and the wound healed in an instant, faster than any higher undead that Burris had ever seen…it was strange that he could cut his hair and nails. Today he had just trimmed his eyebrows…

Thousands of words converge into one sentence: what is good for me will take effect, and what is not good for me will have no effect. This is the damage immunity characteristic of Skeleton King.

Perhaps most mages would find this conclusion illogical. How can such a good thing happen? It was simply unreasonable, but Burris knew it was all true.

What was special about the Skeleton King is not what he can destroy, but… that he is basically impossible to destroy.

However, that doesn’t mean he lacks the ability to attack. Now the Skeleton King has been stripped of his divinity, and he has lost contact with the divine realm where he was born. If one day he can regain his own power, he will become a true god instead of a demigod.

Burris had reason to believe that what Roth kept secret from him was more or less related to this.

Burris could only observe carefully, trying his best to make Roth trust him sincerely and enjoy all the things in the world.

The specific method was: give him the most comfortable and luxurious room, use the exquisite silk and satin rarely found in the palace, and let the kitchen have three daily meals of local specialties…also give him money, let him play at will, let him buy horses, dogs, useless accessories, and dazzling bright clothes…Satisfy his curiosity, answer his questions seriously, let him go wherever he wants, and don’t ask him anything he doesn’t want to say…

This wasn’t for a day or two, it wasn’t for a year or two, he had to treat Roth like this all the time… he had decided that long ago. Anyway, now it wasn’t difficult for him to do so. He hoped that the Skeleton King could be satisfied with this.

Otherwise, how can you be nice to someone? Burris could hardly imagine it.

Thanks for reading! If there is a mistake please tell me 🙂